Another Space Battle Test

Hi,
I've just finished one of my latest shots (took me almost a week to do this one) using 3ds Max and After FX.
I'm using a new method for the lasers, by rendering the white cores in MAX and then compositing them (with glows) in After Effects.
I used models from Scifi3D by the way.
Here's the [link=http://users.tpg.com.au/rossekid//Space_Shot_26.mov]link[/link].
What do you guys think?

It's not too bad, I think your method for the lasers works pretty well. As far as lighting goes, the large capital ships need a bit harsher lighting. The transition between the shadow and light is too smooth. The explosion might need to be a bit smaller also, and possibly quicker, since it's so big you can see at the end where compositing makes it a bit transparent.

Use one main spot light, with Area Shadows(fast and more accurate than shadow maps). Then add some omni lights around the areas with low intensities (to fake global illumination and make the shadows a little bit brighter). Just make sure that you have the omnis at very low intensities, like 0.1-0.3 and have the spot at like 0.8-1.0. Also, make sure the omni lights don't have shadows turned on and have specularity turned off also (just right click in the viewport with the light selected and turn of specularity in the popup menu).

I'd be happy if I could get some of my stuff to look this good, but ditto on the lighting.
I'm not sure about your hull-textures either: they're not quite right, they almost look gray & wet. Try for whiter & flatter (in the sense of 'flat' paint which has a dull, non-flective finish).

You've also got to have more movement; the big ships, the camera and the starfield should all be put in motion-- even if it's only subtle.

I notice you've used the free content from DetFilms. Perhaps fade those out with feathered masks growing from the center of each fireball, instead of using the opacity transform. You could layer several live-explosive elements, like visual echoes: you'll have more control of the density and they'll be less recognizable.

Also, add CG debris and so create some interaction with the other surfaces of the affected hulls: burn marks, holes, ricochets, venting atmosphere, etc. And render a separate element of that far right arm of the trade-fed ship: when the central sphere explodes the fireball should be partially obscured by that arm. Or make a special material using the DetFilms content and apply that to a virtual 'projector screen' in max.

I thought it looked really good. The only thing I would say to change is, as stated above, you might want to get a bit more movement out of the capital ships and the stars. In all six movies the background elements almost always had a bit of motion to them, even if it was just a subtle drift to help reinforce the idea of three dimensional space.